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How much do you flare?

How to measure flowrates of flare gas accurately and reliably
Measuring the flow of flare gas
is important in chemical, petrochemical, refining, and other
plants that vent hydrocarbons
and other waste gases. Ultrasonic flowmeters help customers comply with environmental emission requirements,
reduce leaks and understand
their process losses.

Photos: GE Sensing

Figure 2: This diagonal transducer arrangement is typically

used for ultrasonic flowmeters
in headers of less than
350 mm diameter.

DARYL BELOCK

Figure 1 (left): Flares are used to burn off unwanted gases under
both routine and emergency conditions. The wide range of
flowrates makes this a challenging application for flowmeters.

easons to measure flare gas flow include compliance with environmental regulations; identifying leaks, for
instance from pressure relief valves that
have failed to re-seat properly; reconciling
plant mass balances; and flare burner

control, which is especially important

when the flare gas contains a lot of inerts.
A typical flare gas system is a kind of
sewer used to burn off waste gases (Figure 1). Headers from individual process
units range in diameter from 50 to 200
mm, while main flare lines leading to the
actual flare are anywhere from 300 mm to
1.8 m in diameter. A typical installation includes at least one flowmeter on the main
flare line upstream of the knock-out drum.
Smaller headers from individual process
units may have their own flowmeters.

A challenging application
Flare gas flow measurement is a challenging application. It requires the ability
to measure over a wide range of velocities:
from 0.03 m/s under lowest flow conditions, through 0.150.5 m/s for most normal operation, up to 80 m/s or more in the
main header during emergency flaring.
Temperatures range from 20 C to 80 C
for typical flare systems and from 200 C
to 100 C for liquefied natural gas (LNG)
flares. Pressures range from 515 kPa in
normal operation up to 7 bar under emergency conditions.
Flare header flowmeters must withstand condensation and corrosion from
water, liquid hydrocarbons and acid gases. They must be mechanically strong, to
Figure 4: Isolating valves allow the transducers to be changed while the flare header is in
service.

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PROCESS worldwide 3-2006

Daryl Belock is Director of Strategic Marketing at GE Sensing

in Billerica, MA, USA.

resist the high drag forces that occur under emergency conditions. And they must
operate with high levels of hydrogen and
carbon dioxide, which are challenging for
ultrasonic flowmeters because of their
high attenuation factors.
Flowmeters based on differential pressure, vortex shedding and insertion thermal-mass types have all been tried on flare
gas duty, but none has performed particularly well. Their failings include limited
turndown, inability to follow unsteady
flows, corrosion, intolerance of liquid carry-over, and sensitivity to changes in gas
composition.
Ultrasonic flowmeters are better suited
to this duty. The measurement of flare gas
flow with ultrasound began in the early
1980s with development work by Panametrics and Exxon in Baytown, Texas,
USA. Today ultrasonic flowmeters are the
accepted technology for flare gas measurement, with more than 3,000 installations worldwide.

Ultrasonic flowmeters
An ultrasonic transit time (or time of
flight) flowmeter for low-pressure gas applications uses a pair of ultrasonic transducers in direct contact with the gas. Ultrasound pulses are transmitted alternately from one transducer to the other;
the mounting arrangement of the transducers means that the pulses in one direction travel with the gas flow, while in

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the other direction they travel against the

flow (Figure 2). Measuring the difference
between the downstream and upstream
transit times allows the gas velocity, and
hence the volumetric flowrate, to be calculated.
Knowing the distance between the
transducers also makes it possible to calculate the speed of sound in the gas, and
hence the average molecular weight. This
not only yields the mass flowrate, which is
important for reporting purposes, but can
also help to identify the nature and source
of the gas being flared.
Most ultrasonic flowmeters in flare
headers of less than 350 mm diameter use
the diagonal mounting arrangement of
Figure 2. Larger pipes typically use the
mid-radius bias-90 configuration of Figure 3, which is easier to maintain and is
less sensitive to velocity profile effects.
Other arrangements are used where space
is tight. Isolating valves and insertion
glands allow the transducers to be
changed without shutting off the gas flow
(Figure 4).

Location and installation

Finding the right location for a flowmeter can be tricky. Ultrasonic flowmeters,
like many other flow measurement technologies, do not measure velocity across
the full cross-section of the pipe. This
means that for accurate results they depend on a fully-developed flow profile of
known shape. For low-pressure gas applications such as flare headers, the standard advice is to allow a straight length
equivalent to 20 pipe diameters upstream
of the flowmeter, and 10 diameters downstream. This may be difficult to achieve in
a flare header with many joins and bends,
but it is important for accurate results.
Avoid locating an ultrasonic meter
downstream of any source of gas-borne ultrasonic noise, such as flow-control and
pressure-regulating valves. Despite advanced digital signal processing technology, these ultrasonic noise will degrade the
signal to noise ratio, and in extreme cases
could affect flowmeter performance.
The transducer nozzles need to be positioned to a tolerance of 1.5 mm and 1.
This is a difficult task that is best carried
out in a workshop rather than in the field.
For new flare systems, or plants that can
be shut down for maintenance, the preferred approach is to use a flow cella
pipe spool that carries all the mounting
hardware needed for the transducers.
This approach allows machining and
welding to be carried out under controlled
conditions, and final dimensions to be
measured accurately. The path length and
the axial distance between the transducers, for instance, are typically measured to

0.1 mm. The complete flow cell is calibrated using air at known conditions of
temperature and humidity.

On-site installation
The flow cell approach is a luxury that
many plants cannot afford. Instead, threequarters of all GE flare gas ultrasonic
flowmeter installations worldwide are installed directly into the pipe in the field.
This is known as a hot tap or a cold tap,
depending on whether flare remains in
service during installation. Properly done,
this procedure results in a flowmeter installation that is accurate enough for most
purposes and causes little or no loss of
production.
Jigs and clamps are used to locate the
two nozzles accurately on the flare header
and hold them securely while they are
welded in place. After welding, inspection
and pressure testing, isolating valves are
fitted to the nozzles. The final step is to
penetrate the pipe, using first a pilot drill
and then a hole saw manipulated through
the bores of the isolating valves. Further
taps are made to accommodate pressure
and temperature transmitters downstream of the ultrasonic transducers.
Modern ultrasonic flowmeters offer a
range of features to aid calibration and
maintenance. For instance, diagnostic data can be sent to service engineers by email or even in real time, via a web server.

Operation and maintenance

Once installed, flare header flowmeters
have several useful functions. For environmental reporting and mass balancing,
the average molecular weight and mass

flowrate derived from the flowmeter signals are typically recorded by the plants
control system.
If a flowmeter indicates gas flow in the
flare header, but this is not expected from
the plants operating conditions, the installation point of the flowmeter and the
molecular weight can both help in tracking down the unit responsible. The actual
source of the flow is often a pressure relief
valve that has failed to re-seat properly.
Operators also use flare gas flowmeters
to control steam injection to the flare, as a
way to prevent smoke formation.


Further reading
[1] Industrial Flares, Section 13.5. Sept. 1991.
http://www.epa.gov/ttn/chief/ap42/ch13/final/c13s05.pdf.
[2] Flare Gas Ultrasonic Flow Meter. Proceedings
from the Thirty-Ninth Annual Symposium on
Instrumentation for the Process Industries.
1984. By Smalling, Lynnworth, Wallace.
[3] Flare Gas Ultrasonic Flowmeters Optimising
Performance & Verification of New and Existing Installations. Steve Milford. GE Panametrics. June 2002. NEL Flare Gas Seminar.

www.process-worldwide.com
178477
The homepage of
GE Sensing
Futher information about the flare
gas flowmeter GF868
E-mail contact with the
author
Phone: +1 (0)9 78 / 4 37 - 10 00

Figure 3: The Panametrics DigitalFlow GF868

Flare Gas Flowmeter from GE Sensing shows a
typical installation for large flare headers.

worldwide 3-2006 PROCESS

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